COLLECTION: Fragile Beauty Inspired by a Lonely Luxury

“Take a second to really listen
to your client—and really look
at her. Decide what you want to
emphasize, and what you want
to minimize,” he says. “So at
the end, what you’re left with
is the most beautiful version of
her you can have.”

Croteau used Oribes Dry Texturizing Spray as the hero product
for each look to help minimize the sheen on the synthetic wigs
used for the collection. “Dry helps make the hair look more
natural,” he says. “I also used a lot of Impermeable to shape
and mold the hair.” Croteau used Oribes Pomade to manipulate
each strand and “rough up the hair a little bit.”

“This is my favorite shot in the collection—how shes looking
blankly across the table at nobody,” Croteau says. “I used
Oribes Gel Serum and Supershine crème to strategically break
up the hair and define the movement.”

“I considered having a male figure in each shot, always behind her, out of focus with his back to her. But I thought his lack of presence in her life might be better illustrated by him not being there at all.”—Gary Croteau

Advertisement

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

When Oribe Hair Care challenged its network salons with creating a photoshoot inspired by a vignette shown at the brand’s annual Backstage event, it didn’t take long for runner up Gary Croteau, the education director for Boston’s salon Mario Russo at Fan Pier, to visualize his entry.

The shoot took place at a private residence in Dracut, Massachusetts, that had always inspired him. “My friends have joked that this photoshoot was 15 years in the making,” Croteau says. “When I heard the home was going to be renovated I knew we had to make this shoot happen.” For this collection, his goal was to showcase the glamour and luxury of a woman who feels terribly alone in the world, as inspired by Oribe’s Amor Eternal vignette. “Much like Marilyn Monroe, this woman is the envy of all women,” says Croteau, who, as a former theater major, finds comfort in telling a story through delving into the heads of others. “She lives a glamorous life, in a beautiful home, but she’s a very tortured soul who feels terribly alone and sad.”